Page 28 of Hometown Hottie

14

CARSON

“I’m really excited to see this place,” I said as Nova and I walked into the new brewery that had opened just a few weeks before I’d come home.

It was one of my business ventures and I’d been dying to see how it had turned out in person. Nova grinned up at me as we stopped just inside the door, taking in the trendy concrete floor and countertops, the kegs and barrels, and the solid mahogany bar that ran the entire length of the back wall.

Numerous taps were mounted on it and the scent of hops and fried food hung in the air. She lifted her eyebrows as she brought her gaze back to mine. “Wow. I thought you said you haven’t been keeping busy.”

I shrugged. “Investing is not keeping busy. I’ve never even seen this place before. Last I heard, they were busy installing the final fittings.”

She ran her fingers through her ponytail, toying with the ends of her smooth blonde hair. “And you’re okay with that? Giving money to people to do whatever they want?”

“Sure. Why not?” I inclined my head toward two open seats at one end of the long bar. “The partners I’ve got here want me to be more involved, and eventually, maybe I will be, but for now, I’m focusing on settling back in.”

Nova followed me to the high-backed chairs, taking one and pointing at a tap marked Silver Pale Ale.

“I’m trying that,” she said immediately. “I love a good pale ale.”

I looked at her again once I’d sat down, marveling over the fact that I was actually here with her, back in town with no plans to leave and not dreaming about it either. “Since when do you know anything about beer?”

“Since I turned twenty-one a little over six years ago and stopped having to be nervous about drinking it,” she said playfully. “It’s amazing how much a person can learn in over half a decade.”

I laughed. “That’s fair. What else have you learned, then? I keep thinking I know you, but maybe that’s not true anymore.”

“It’s true enough.” She gave her order to the bartender when he came by, and I did the same thing before I turned back to her. Getting comfortable, she settled into the chair and crossed her legs. “I guess that depends on what you want to know. At heart, I’m still the same person, but I’m also smarter, wiser, and a lot more jaded.”

“Okay, we’re starting there,” I said immediately. “Why are you more jaded?”

She chuckled and rolled her eyes at me. “Whoa there, cowboy. Stop looking like you’re about to punch someone on my behalf. If someone needs punching, I’ll do it myself, but aside from that, there’s no one to punch. Just life, you know?”

“Yeah, I think I do.” I accepted my beer when the bartender pushed it over to me, and I asked him to keep the tab open.

Once he was gone, I focused back on the blue-eyed mystery who looked so much like the girl I used to know. She was a full-fledged woman now, though. The more time I spent with her, the more I realized there was a lot of depth to her.

Yet, she was still just as easy to hang out with and talk to, and it still felt like I knew her. I just didn’t know all the details anymore.

“Tell me about you, superstar,” she said conversationally after taking a sip of her beer. “It feels like all we’ve done since you’ve been back is talk about me. What about you? What was life like away from here? Was it everything you wanted it to be?”

“Yes and no.” I wrapped my fingers around my glass, watching the bubbles as they rose to the surface. I took another sip, swallowing while I thought about how to finish answering her question. “When I first left, it was a little weird. Cities are loud and busy. It took me some time to get used to the fact that it never seemed completely quiet.”

Her eyes widened a little bit. “Really? Never?”

“Never,” I said. “Well, I mean, if your apartment is properly soundproofed and stuff, then sure, but even then, the quiet just isn’t the same. Plus, it took me a really long time to get used to not seeing the stars shining as bright as they do here.”

“Constant noise and no stars.” Her nose wrinkled adorably. “Yep. I’m never leaving. It’s official.”

I laughed. “I don’t think you’d like it much, but not because of that. Everything is a bit cramped. Even the parks and the fields are caged in by buildings. It definitely took some getting used to. Mom told me you went to Oklahoma State U, though. So you must know all this.”

“Sort of, but Oklahoma City is no New York. Besides, it’s not like I’ve never visited a city. I just never saw myself staying wherever I was while I was there. I’d imagine that’s a whole different kettle of fish, moving in and knowing you were there for good.”

“It must be, but I wouldn’t know. I always knew it wasn’t for good.”

She arched an eyebrow at me. “Always? That’s funny because the way I remember it, you talked about leaving here and never coming back.”

“Yeah, but that only lasted until I left, and I don’t mean for college. When I started college, I knew I’d be back, but once I got drafted, things changed. Suddenly, I was gone and I didn’t even know when I’d be able to visit again. That put things in perspective a little bit.”

“Okay, I guess I can see that being true. I felt the same way when I went to college. It was temporary. I wasn’t always sure I’d be back here as soon as I graduated. I thought about getting some work experience somewhere else first, but I never doubted that Silver Springs was where I’d settle to live my life.”